A Trip Down South

---

An Uncomfortable Nights Sleep

On Friday night we look the sleeper bus from Vientiane to Pakse. The bus was a bit like a coach, with a number of bunk beds along the sides. Instead of having two people to a bunk though, they had four. A bit of a squish. We were on the back seats so technically had more room. That was until they moved one guy to the back as another man refused to share his bunk. Unfortunately, the mattress across the back weren't even and I was forced to sleep in between the cracks, not comfy. To top it off the guy next to us had to be the world’s loudest snorer. Dad he made you look juvenile. So not the best nights sleep in the world but it was an efficient way of getting us from North to South.

After trailing around Pakse for the morning we decided there wasn't much to see or do. Pakse is the main town in the South of Laos but it is more of a market and transport hub rather than a tourist or local haven. As a result we decided to go and stay in the little town of Champaskak an hour or so south of Pakse. To get to Champaskak we had to take a local bus or in this case swagathone (bit like a big tuk tuk) - the best decision we made. The bus left from the market place in Pakse, the most bustling part of town and we were been offered a variety of things left right and centre. The bus journey itself was actually very easy and took us right where we wanted to be. By traveling the same way as the locals it makes you feel more apart of the country and I think you get a lot more from it rather than taking all the backpacker buses.

Champasak

Champasak is a small place just along side the Mekong. Yes that’s right we still haven't left this amazingly long river! It’s a very quiet and relaxed place with loads of local charm - just what we were after. On Saturday we hired out bikes for the day and look a cycle through the local villages to the world heritage site, Wat Phu. An ancient temple situated up on the hill side. We had to climb hundreds of steep steps to get to it but the views from the top were incredible.

On route to the temple we decided to stop for lunch at a small local restaurant. Mistake! They only served noodle soup and when it arrive it had pieces of semi uncooked chicken in it. We ate some as we didn't want to appear rude but we are both praying it won't have any adverse effects, although so far so good.

On Sunday we organized to do another home stay. This time on the island of Dong Deng just opposite Champasak. This island was beautiful and we had a lovely walk through the local villages and countryside. The family we were staying with were really sweet and very accommodating. Despite the big language gap, we managed to get by and ended up playing and drawing with the two little girls that lived there.

DoneDet

We are now on the island of DoneDet, one of the 4000 islands that sit at the bottom of Laos within the Mekong. The island is a bit like DoneDet in terms of locals and its agricultural practices (all rice farming). However, it is much more geared up to tourism especially at the northern tip.

Getting to the island was however a bit of an adventure. To get to the islands from main land Laos you have to get a little wooden long tail ferry boat. After buying our ticket we got on a boat which we thought went to Donedet. It didn't and we ended up on the neighboring island Donekone. We soon realized that we were in the wrong place and asked the boat driver to take us across the river to Donedet. However, he literally look us across and we ended up on the south end instead of the north where all the accommodation was. This wouldn't have been too bad except at that moment in time the heavens once again opened and we were stuck in an hour of monsoonal rainfall, kindly sheltering under a local ladies porch.

When the rain subsided we managed to get a local man to take us to the north end of the island on his fishing boat. The boat was very narrow and quite small. Not really made for three adults and two big rucksacks. I like boats but that wasn't by favorite boat trip. Think I have felt more stable in a single scull!!!!

We are due to spend the night here on DongDet then are leaving Laos tomorrow morning and heading over the boarder into Cambodia. Laos is a spectacularly beautiful country with a very friendly population and I will be sad to leave it. However, the next stage of our journey beckons and I hope that it will be just as good!!

Lots of Love
Becky
xxxx

p.s. again sorry about there being no photos computers in Laos don't seem to like my camera. Hopefully will have more luck in Cambodia X

---